Rob2160

Will PM you shortly.. I have ordered this battery. Those 70-80C batteries you mention must cost more than the hellcopter? Wow, that is serous stuff.. might be a while (like never) before my skill needs that type of power!.

Glad to hear you survived the heli attack.. I must admit, that does scare me greatly with the larger helis....

Rob2160

But you should see my calf muscles..!

Great vid and Blather as always..

Not sure if I'll fly much today.. I have to psych myself up for work tomorrow...

pushinoldrc

My Feedback: (46)

I had a wonderful afternoon flying with hugj and my other pals. It was good to return home with the same number of parts that we left with. Actually, I left the flight box at home, as I was flying electric, and one of the guys needed it.  Hugh's wife was kind enough to bring his from home, so Hugh did take home more parts than he came with, but not because of a crash

Sorry for not posting as often as I used to, I am now working 10's 5 days a week as a mechanic.  I have been doing commercial electrical work for the last 5 years, and this is much harder than when I was a younger mechanic (maniac).

Bryan

glenladen

G'day all,glad to be home again and have just finished catching up on everyone's posts.phil glad your ok and the injuries arn't as bad as first felt.Rob the two gaui's are looking sweet and 'onya' for conquering the 'inverted flying'.
Simon crashing sucks especially on your last day on hol's,it's good to see you've still got a couple of birds to fly with.
hugj welcome i've an MSR120 that is giving me a few problems at the moment,but was a lot of fun until it started to play up.

I've had the little blackhawk out abit and have become better at selecting places to crash it (mango tree,patio roof,etc),yesterday I took the 450 out for an test hover or two in the backyard and
had success straight up,I replaced my three cyclic/pitch servo's after one of the HXT900's had failed last time and then the next time out I ground some of the teeth off of the main gear.
Well yesterday she lifted off solid with a bit of tail wag (no biggy) and I played around with it for a battery,just doing hops and adjusting the gyro gain (might try another servo) and ended up breaking an tail blade (I have 5 other kits to cannibalise).
Sorry no vid's as the camera sheila felt that domestic chores was alot more fun!.[:@]

cheers,
glenn.

Edmund2

Rob, it was great flying the big beast and for the first time not fearing that something will go wrong. As it is not setup for 3D it was like flying a huge but fast BOL. Tail has a bit of movement but not bothering at all. Very responsive, nice piro rate and when I brought it in to land it did exactly as I wanted it to do inching it downwards until on the tarmac. Will continue tofly in this setup for at least another 50 odd flights then to the next level.

As for a lipo from HK the postage is around $98.00 to get it here. Will check ifI can get it cheaper from the US.

Edmund

SW_RC

If you link the battery concerned, especially if it available in Australia, I'll see what the postage is from here to SA..

We might be able to save you a few bucks that way.

Garry.

SW_RC

Rob2160

Yes, I know what you mean.. the larger helis have a stability that you have to experience to understand..

I had my X5 up at the medical centre tonight (night flying) just because I love the stability and the smoothness of it all.. it is fun just hovering..

That is a massive price for postage.. is it just because of the Lipo or is any item that expensive to SA?

Rob2160

LOL.. was just thinking the same thing.. get it from the Aus Warehouse and I'll give it to a friend of mine who isa Qantas Second officer.. she can take it across next time she heads over.

SW_RC

Have you found Lipos reasonable from PerthRC Rob?

Or do you always get them from HK?

G.

Rob2160

When I started back in the hobby I bought 3 Lipos from Perth Discount Hobbies for a cost of around $50 each.,.

they all failed within a few months. (admittedly, I was draining them too much)

The only other non Hobbyking Lipos I have are the ones that came with the Parkzone BNF aircraft, but they are low powered, mostly 25C batteries, on two of them the balance plug soldering has failed.

In comparison, I have over 60 LiPos from Hobbyking, varying from 1300 to 2200 (majority) 1600, 2450, etc.. and ALL of them are still perfect.. no wire failures, no cell failures even after hundreds of cycles (I now use them more conservatively and never drain them below 20%...

Hobbyking is the way to go!.

Perth RC stock the Hacker Brand battery and a friend of mine bought a few for his fixed wing aircraft and has good results.. but 4 x the cost of an equivalent HK battery..

Rob2160

Wow..

for $99 bucks.. ready to fly with radio..  why would you bother building one...

Good reviews also..

https://www.leaderhobby.com/product.asp?ID=com991167

pushinoldrc

My Feedback: (46)

<xml><w:worddocument><w:view></w:view></w:worddocument></xml><style type="text/css">st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }</style><style type="text/css"> Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}</style>

Well guys, I know that LiPo batteries can be dangerous if you do not take certain precautions, and I guess here is where I show my South Alabama Stupidity.
I was charging my batteries (3 x 2s 5000mAh 40c in series) for the electrified Sig Rascal 40 this morning thinking that I may can get a few flights in before I have to head into town, and as usual, was charging them in the airframe. I usually set them to charge and forget them, but I had been having problems with a voltage mismatch error on the HK 8s charger. I was within a few mAh of a complete charge at around 8 am, and I went inside for a few minutes. When I returned to my model shop, smoke was billowing out of the door, and I could see LARGE ORANGE FLAMES in the window.
I was able to put out the fire with the garden hose, but only after a lot of damage was done.
PLEASE BE CAREFUL, AND MINDFUL WHEN CHARGING LiPo BATTERIES. Or as my wife says, "Don't do that again! EVER!"

see the slide show here

Bryan

Edmund2

Guys, thank you for the kind offer and I do work 3 minutes drive (traffic lights permitting) away from OR Tambo International. Will check if the 5000mah  22v is 20c or 40c and advise.

Regards,

Edmund

rikybob

Hi Bryan,

That's absolutely horrifying.

I am pretty good about mine in that they are charged in the garage with a smoke detector right over the top of them as they are charging.

I store them in military style ammo boxes.

Problem is, is sometimes I forget them like I did last night and don't put them up after charging.

It creeps me out to find them in the morning still attached.

I am glad no one was injured!

b

PS The linky didn't work. What is your handle in shutterfly??

rikybob

Sent that linky to a friend who is interested in the Hobby..........will see!

b

Rob2160

PS..I am of course... kidding..

Lipos can be very dangerous... and your post is a timely reminder for all of us...

Thanks Bryan, and Brian.

sgbfly

Oh Bugger! I've got my own tale of woe to contribute (though thankfully not on the scale of Bryans - Bad luck mate )

Today is a near calm muggy day and seeing thus I took my favourite $10 heli (#1) to work with a view to getting a lunchtime flight in. Only problem was, almost the moment my last lipo was charged those glorious towering cumulus clouds exploded into life depositing hail, torrential rain and lightening on my little field. After 3 hours of peeping out the window every 15 seconds the rains stopped and I made it to the field only to be greeted by more rain Sheltering under a tree (yes I know) it eventually passed and I returned to my favoured spot on the field. Took out my favoured heli and enjoyed a serene battery pack as the heli looked great performing loops and rotor turns against the tall cumulus clouds that were none too far away. After 8 minutes the flight timer went but I ignored it and flew on for another minute then reluctantly landed & flicked the throttle hold switch.

Whilst reaching for the next lipo to be spoiled my heli freaked, rotors came to life with a judder! Quick glance at the transmitter and throttle hold was still on! Flicked it on and off and the heli fell quite again..... .....only for 10 seconds later to fire again, no fiddling the transmitter would stop it this time and the heli tipped over and performed a dance like a wasp on a window daring me to stick my hand in to try and disconnect the lipo. Eventually I did it but bust the landing skids in the process and stripped the main gear. Remarkably there seems to be no other damage including the blades which are unmarked

Just fired it up in the office and all works well.

So what happened - I've no idea but I guess one of:

1) A little rain somewhere - doubtful
2) Electrical interference from a thunderstorm - hmmmmm there was no interent or wireless network when I got back to work although I heard no thunder whilst flying.
3) I did not push the RF module fully home after practising on the sim last night (the 9x requires that you disconnect the rf module when on the sim) - the rf module was in but not completely tight.....

I think I've got off lightly tbh.

Simon

rikybob

Hiya Simon,

Sorry to hear of your tale of woe.

Nice prose though!

Mine did the same thing to me when my phreakin' throttle trim was unknowingly bumped by me two clicks up.

The problem didn't show itself right away b/c of the inaccuracy of the Tx.

Scared the crap outta me!

Both the little one and the big 'un tried to fire up on me.

The little one caused the only laceration I have earned (very minor, but DID break the skin).

Hope you get that sorted as that's a REAL problem.

b

PS Regale us with the story of your "flaming in-flight lipo" and post the accompanying viddy. It was awesome!

Buz

Simon.... he only wants to see the carnage! lol That was a good story.... you're lucky you didn't get hit by a rotor blade. I accidently hit throttle up when I had a BOL bound to my DX8. That was over in seconds! The BOL tried drill a hole through the garage ceilng.... and I'm not afraid to admit that it scared me so bad..... I ran from it! I finally found the throttle hold and flicked it off. The BOL thrashed around under my work bench and when I pulled it out, there were no blades....and no grips left! Now, I always fly with one finger on the switch.

Buzz

Jolly-Swagman

Hi Bryan,

Turnigy 9X Trainer Function and Simulator Modification Fix Resolution DIY

joizeex

wow, i turn away from the thread for a few days and you guys get yourselves in a pickle? I hope the string of bad luck will not cause any more grief for you guys!

Edmund, that's some nice arsenal you have and something i didn't know about those big cats. Interesting info there, thanks!

I finally had some time to catch up on the thread after a busy weekend. Went to the bay at the shore on Friday and did some kayaking and relearned windsurfing. I learned a little bit of the latter some 4 years ago and my body forgot most of it, so it took half hour to finally get the feel for it again, but the sun was going down by then. Was good to be by the sea though, as i haven't gone to the beach to splash around in a good long while (been to Atlantic City, but fully clothed and at night).

Saturday i finally flew the nitro again, after buying 2 gallons of 20% fuel and had a blast, though on the 4th flight the rubber isolators that support the tank sheared off and the tank was touching the frame, which in nitro heli world is not a good thing. Also the fuel line attached to the main tank developed a big crack and lots of fuel was lost in flight, not to mention the engine ran lean. So from all this business i had to bring the heli back in and call it a day.

I also got my very own Cyro and installed it on the Dragonus (as it turned out, the existing Telebee gyro wasn't damaged, but the 6->5V voltage converter that i ran on my tail servo, was). Well, so far it seems that the Cyro is being more consistent in holding the tail than the Telebee. I haven't done the hot glue fill, as it seemed to me that everything inside is very solid and the bottom lid has a foam pad inside that holds everything in place.

I'm still getting a little bit of bounce when flying in the wind, which i tried to cure by adding some Delay, though i don't think it helped. Has anyone used that feature to tune the gyro response? The batteries i'm using on the heli are all but dead by now, from me overdischarging them a few times, so it was hard to judge gyro performance with slower headspeed. I ordered 4x Zippy 2200 30C packs from USA HK, so i'll see how that works out. Overall i'm very impressed with the Cyro for a mere $11!

aaaand, i have my own electronics trouble, as some of you guys are! My HBK decided to start doing random things while in flight with respect to servo movement and throttle. When sitting on the ground and not spinning the rotor, everything's fine. When i get it going, some seconds later it decides to dance with itself. Gonna have to sort it out soon, because i just got 2 brand new 1800 nano-tech batteries for the heli (i over discharged the ones i had for it as well... can we see a pattern here? lol).

pushinoldrc

My Feedback: (46)

I will post another linky once I figure out the best place to upload the photos to.  You guys just have to see how hot it got.  I have discovered more plastic heli canopies disfigured.
I think that I started having problems to begin with because of to many over discharge flights.  Please be careful.
Rob, I can honestly say that your charge station is probably as safe or safer than mine.  I think I will pour a concrete pad outside and away from any structures or trees and then form a concrete box to charge my batteries.  It seems the only way my wife will allow them on the property now.
I will post that link soon.  Please keep watching.
Bryan

joizeex

Bryan, good to hear that you still have a home to sleep in!

SW_RC

Commiserations to those for whom helis have turned on them...

Maybe time to turn your attention to a more gentile pastime, like this fellow has?

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNLMN_RqSI [/youtube]